S. African anti-apartheid figure Goldreich dies at 82

S. African anti-apartheid figure Goldreich dies at 82

2011-05-25 22:49:13 GMT+7 (ICT)

JOHANNESBURG (BNO NEWS) -- Arthur Goldreich, one of Nelson Mandela's old friends and a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement, died in Israel on Tuesday, the Nelson Mandela Foundation confirmed on Wednesday. He was 82.

Goldreich was a political activist who became a member of the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) which fought against the South African apartheid government. Goldreich and his family in 1961 provided refuge at their home on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia to Nelson Mandela and other freedom fighters.

Goldreich was one of those arrested at the farm on July 11, 1963 in the now infamous Rivonia Raid. Goldreich, along with Harold Wolpe, Mosie Moola and Abdulhay Jassat escaped from custody at Marshall Square Police Station in Johannesburg on August, 11 1963. He moved to Israel in 1964 after his dramatic escape.

"Whilst staying at Liliesleaf farm, I frequently visited Arthur Goldreich in the main house and he also paid me visits in my room," Nelson Mandela said in April 1964 during a speech from the dock in the Rivonia trial. "We had numerous political discussions covering a variety of subjects. We discussed ideological and practical questions, the Congress Alliance ... Because of what I had got to know of Goldreich, I recommended on my return to South Africa that he should be recruited to Umkhonto."

After South Africa achieved democracy in 1994 with Mandela as its president, Goldreich attended a reunion at the Liliesleaf which has since been transformed into a museum.

Goldreich, who is survived by his sons Nicholas, Paul, Amos, and Eden, was also an artist and designer who created the sets for the famous musical 'King Kong'.

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